Wasting time - how do you know?

6 replies
I am always getting distracted by one thing or another. If I don't set out my day in a list and then order it I am sunk! I have to go through my list and tick off the tasks as I complete them to gain some pleasure from the process.

I was looking for a post on the Warrior Forum from weeks ago and finally hit on using the history tab in Google. When I saw the wasted time from then and compared it to now I was shocked!!

When you look at your surfing history in Google it shows you what pages you looked at but more importantly what time you looked. So when I saw that I checked my emails at 9.18am, 9.43am, 10.04am etc.....and that's just emails. (this was from 4 weeks ago).

I looked at today's history and I checked my emails at 7.10am (when I started work) and not again since. I think I got this tip from an Eban Pagan video. I have probably achieved more today already than I did in a whole week last month.

Anyway just thought I would share a time saving tip with you...if you want to scare yourself just look at your web history and see how much time you waste!

I added up the time from each page hit and allowed a minute for each...I wasted 2 hours and 45 minutes just "looking around" and pondering what to do next....and I am sure it was more than a minute on each page.
#time #wasting
  • Profile picture of the author Andy Hussong
    That's a great tip about checking your browsing history with Google.

    Another thing you should do is completely close out your email program, logoff from gmail, etc. while you work. Set specific times you'll check email during the day, and then set a 10-20 min. timer and only return emails during that time, then get back to work.

    Also, set a timer for 45-90 minutes when working, and take a 5-10 min break, go for a walk, take a power nap, eat, etc... and then repeat throughout the day.

    Finally, when I have tons of tabs open in Firefox, I just open a whole new browser window and minimize the other one (if I have tabs I don't want to lose... I guess I'm an Internet browsing pack rat), and ONLY open tabs in that new window that I NEED while I work.

    That helps keep me from checking sports scores, news, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Says


    I didn't even think about the times that it showed, I use google chrome and use the history all the time. But never paid attention to what times I did things.

    Thanks a lot for this post man.
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  • Profile picture of the author aaron_nimocks
    How much time did you spend researching this and then making the post?

    I agree with one of the biggest failures for people who work online is getting distracted and never getting ACTUAL WORK done.
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    • Profile picture of the author pearlydean
      I'm too busy to reply at the moment...lol!!

      I must admit I did think about that when I posted it...but if it helps anyone its worth it.

      Now...what was I doing??
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  • Profile picture of the author IMChick
    My most effective internet time management program involves a piece of paper and a pencil. Write your goals on that paper. They should be short, what you want to accomplish before lunch type stuff, not the earth shattering life goals. Make sure they're in bite size pieces so you will feel like you accomplished something.

    (heart starts racing). Go to the wireless hub and click it off for a couple of hours -- um, this doesn't work with VOIP, but you get the idea. Set the alarm on your cell phone so you don't overwork yourself! Unplug and accomplish.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jonathan Ferraro
    Great tip. Nothing like having your browsing history staring you right in the face to know that you can get easily distracted. The internet is a wonderful thing, but you've always got to be aware of the ticking clock.
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